You might be
thinking about retiring, but how do you know when you are really ready for it,
mentally and financially? For decades, the normal retirement age was 65. This
was when you became eligible for Social Security and Medicare. But things are
different today.
Answer these five
questions to find out how, when and if you should retire:
How do you replace the relationships you have at work?
When you retire, those you hang out with while working may disappear from your
life. This isn’t a good or bad thing, it just is. When you’re off the radar
screen of others, they often forget to call. Before long that forgetfulness
becomes an embarrassment.
When that happens,
it’s just easier to let you fall away. Will you make the effort to try new
activities where you can meet others, and plan activities to maintain your
existing relationships?
Can you afford it? Do you know how much you need for
living expenses when you retire? Where does your monthly retirement income come
from? Is it enough? If you’re concerned about whether you can afford to retire,
you might also want to think about work in retirement, probably a part-time job
that matches your interest.
What do you depend
on? There’s a very good
chance you have 25 or 30 years of life ahead of you. You might not be able to
work when you are older and less healthy. That means you need savings to help
you get through those years. Do you have an emergency plan? Do you have the
money to pay for huge medical bills and healthcare expenses?
Do you even want
to retire? Before taking
the leap, make sure you don’t have seller’s remorse – when you get rid of
something, you want it again. Spend some time thinking about whether retirement
is right for you. In my case, I have no interest in leaving my job now. I love
what I do, and I’ve arranged my work so that almost everything I do is a lot of
fun. If you work for yourself you can do that too.
What to do with
all that free time? Many
people retire only to find that they’re bored. You might want to think about
what you always wanted to do but either couldn’t afford it or didn’t have the
time.
I always believe
that once we reach our adult years, we have at least three careers in us. The
first is a learning career. The second is when you get to apply what you
learned. The third career is something that you want to do just for fun. Do you
have your just-for-fun ideas lined up?
